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having big kids...

Elsie has taken to baby dolls in the last few weeks. She carries one around and shows me how she will hold the new baby so that I can chase Hattie around. I have voiced a few times around here that Hattie is going to need some serious attention once the baby arrives. The adjustment ahead is certain to rock her world more than anyone else. 

And so that is comforting, knowing that Elsie is ready to hold the newborn. ;) But more comforting is that Ivar and Hattie are good, good friends. He is so patient with her. And even though I hear a whole lot of, "no! Hattie! no!" around here, I also see a whole lot of this stuff: wagon rides and play. Today I said I was going to put Hattie down for her nap and he protested, "I'm not done playing with her yet!" So she got to stay up a little later than usual.

And do you know what is more impressive than a six-year-old successfully setting up Mouse Trap? A six-year-old with the help of a one-year-old setting up Mouse Trap. I'm actually looking forward to adding another kid to this mix. I love them each so much. 

the highest compliment

I read Ivar my blog post about Hattie's dirty diaper of fun and he laughed so hard he could hardly catch his breath. It was such a joy. When I read that she said, "no, no, poopie, no, no" he about fell out of his chair. When I was all done he asked me who had written that and I said I had. And he wondered how I knew how to say those words in that way so that the story was so funny.

We had a really awesome conversation about the joy of words, and how fun it is to get to use them in different ways to make people laugh. He said he wanted to memorize my whole blog post so he could tell the story that funny. And that led to a conversation about humor. I told him he didn't need to memorize how I wrote it, but if there was a funny group of words, or a funny line or two, he could use those when he told the story on his own. I told him about how I listened to Grandpa Paul tell lots of funny stories when I was growing up, and noticed how he would change his voice at some parts, or slow down his words and how it takes a little practice to figure out how to set up a joke.

I also remember sitting in Ms. Groves 10th grade English and History class everyday and listening to her opening stories telling about something funny that had happened the night before. And I took notes. That's no lie. I remember writing down phrases and then retelling her stories until I figured out how to use her funny lines in my own material. Ivar said he is going to listen to Uncle Kyle and cousin Jack to learn how to be funny.

Anyways, to have this conversation with my 6-and-a-half-year-old made me so excited for all that is to come as he learns how to play with words. He is writing a story right now called Squeeker and Croak. I'm writing down exactly what he tells me to and this story is awesome. He's got a great imagination in there and I absolutely love that I get a front row seat watching his stories and writing and joke telling develop. He's definitely on the right track.

the dirty-diaper-of-fun

We've all heard the tale of the one year old who discovers their dirty-diaper-of-fun during nap time. This war story is a harrowing one, and often ends with groans of disbelief and wonder at the magnitude of the mess. I've had friends survive this storm, still alive to tell the tale. In the back of our heads we all know this is possible, but highly unlikely with our own child. After all, we have had two kids never do this. So why would one of our offspring suddenly do something so heinous.

So we put our wee one down for her nap in a t-shirt and diaper. It seems fine. It's hot enough and she is warm blooded, always hot and sweaty, so this is probably the most comfortable for her.

And that nap turns out to be particularly long. And particularly quiet. It's such a gift. This time in the afternoon devoted to quiet tasks to accomplish before the arrival of baby #4.

The nap is so long that you might go and check on the 20-month-old. And the moment you open the door you are hit with a smell so fowl you know all that is ahead. You pull the curtain and even upon seeing the war zone, you actually feel very little emotion. The smears of painting and artistry are from head to toe, on every blanket, bar and crib rail. There is a look of innocence as your dear daughter tells you she is not the enemy. She knows this is wrong and continues on repeat, "no, no, poopie. no, no." She is with you. On your side. How this happened is truly a mystery.

The mess was huge, but I didn't even call for back up. Somehow my heart rate didn't even go up. I knew what had to be done. And even though I can't hardly reach her mattress down so low without smooshing my belly into the crib rail, and even though bending over for three rounds of new water in the bathtub is not my idea of a great position these days, I did it. Because I am a mother. And now I have material to add when the stories begin about the day the one year old discovered their dirty-diaper-of-fun.

friday night mind dump

I wrote this on Friday night and now it's Monday afternoon. But this is what I was thinking about on Friday night...

It has been quite the week. We had multiple days with huge events...and well, actually, any outing feels like a huge event lately. I just told Rory tonight that I can't hold Hattie over the sink any more to wash her hands. I am throwing in the towel on that one. So if I'm struggling to wash Hattie's hands, we know a trip out of the house is quite the ordeal.

On Tuesday Hattie had a big appointment at Gillette's that included a sedated MRI. The results came back in our favor and we are so grateful and glad for awesome doctors and for a good report. The moment the second doctor left the room and we were free to go home my stomach went tight as a rock. I had to sit there for a moment and let it pass, but I felt very clearly that the baby inside was saying, "alrighty, time to turn your attention to me. I'm coming soon." 

We got home and on Wednesday morning I woke up in full-on nesting mode. And my first task was the kids clothes. I went through each drawer, ruthless, trying to get each kid down to 7-8 outfits, and making a list of what I could buy to make certain items into an outfit. Then I did my own clothes. It felt great and in the end I had bags and bags to give away. That night we had a babysitter so Rory and I could go out to dinner and I ended up having him take me to a small town nearby where I was able to donate all the clothes to a little church that has a pay-as-you're-able thrift shop in the basement. You know you're in full purge mode when you use date time/ babysitter time to drop off stuff you want out of your house! We then went out for dinner and had a great night. We are usually pretty terrible about date nights but this summer we are trying hard to rectify that. We have our sitter come for two hours. This way we can afford her to come weekly. I'm just so glad she's on the calendar!

Thursday I woke up ready to gut Hattie's room and clean it from top to bottom for the new baby. I swept, mopped, rolled up the old and nasty rug (lots of spit up on that baby) getting ready for a new rug, wiped the base boards, downsized her toys and Rory built a second crib in the big kids room for Hattie. Elsie used 54 wipes to wipe down the walls and dresser and crib and I was so grateful for her help. That night Hattie had her first sleep over with her siblings and it went surprisingly well. She cries out in the night, not needing anything, but still startling for her big brother. He's may be the one who is having the most difficulty with the new sleeping arrangement. And I don't really blame him. Rory and I slept without a noise fan for the first time since Hattie was born. She is noisy...so Ivar may get a sound machine out of the deal. 

I also spent the day cleaning my laundry room which has become a catch all of every single thing that comes into the house and doesn't have a home. It was a great task since I am in the give-away spirit. The room looks flawless again and I am so pleased. Today I walked in there a few times just to take it in. I went out with girlfriends last night, which felt so good and will likely not happen a whole lot this summer after the baby arrives. 

And then Friday came and I was wiped out. Hattie and I walked to the barn first thing to find "Dada!" and shortly after Rory left for a meeting. It was then that I saw all the sheep out near the garden, out of their fence. I waddled back out there, opened the barn doors and took a good long while working them back into their barn stall. I texted Rory that I was panting has hard as the sheep. 

After lunch I called Rory, who was out in the garden, and told him I needed direction for the day. A friend had just left after a fun play date and I was aimless and exhausted. And he said, "go to bed." And I wanted to cry with thanksgiving. So that's what I did for the afternoon. When I woke up he took Elsie on a date to Dairy Queen, we ate rice and beans for dinner, enjoyed Family Movie Night with a little ditty about a Fireman named Sam and now I just read to the kids and put them all to bed in the same room. Hattie cried for a bit, but she's out now. And Ivar just came down and said, "I'm turning on the air conditioning." And he did! 

I'm not really sure why I wrote all of that out...you are likely bored out of your gourd. But I suppose if I read this years down the road, I might remember this season a little better. There were other things that happened this week too...like Rory and Ivar packing a lunch and heading into the woods near us for an adventure that led to an unexpected waterfall and giant boulder. And all the afternoons I spent up in the barn praying and reading my Bible while Rory took the kids for an hour before dinner. We had our friend's wedding on Sunday, Memorial Day at Rory's folks with the whole Groves clan, and even some impromptu meetings with our pastor as we worked some things out before baby arrives. Life is good and full. We are trying now to slow it all down before it gets even fuller. Tomorrow I will wash the newborn clothes in Dreft and then I'll probably need another nap again. :)

kid quotes

Most of these are Elsie Quotes, because she's four and that is the age that every kid should have a camera crew capturing their hilarious thoughts. Four year old quotes are way better than any sitcom.

Ivar: Mom, I would like to get that book about Space back from the library so you can draw a big picture of the planets and I can color it in.
Elsie: Mom. I don't want to learn about Space at all. I think it's very boring because it's just...a lot of space.
Me: What would you like to learn about, Elsie?
Elsie: Well, how the elephants helped get all the poop and pee off of the ark. (totally out of the blue...nothing had been discussed of this ever before.)

Ivar and I laughed a little too hard at her honest educational request. She was sad and ran away. But I still can't stop laughing.

**
I told Elsie she needed to start eating more at mealtimes because her snacking is just not sustainable. She would snack all day long, and I can't be in the kitchen all day meeting her caloric needs. She said, "Mom! I am even hungry when I am eating!!! That is how hungry I am!"

**
Hattie needed a quick bath after a spaghetti dinner. Rory said I could just hand her to him quickly while he took a shower so it wouldn't be so long of an ordeal. Hattie did not enjoy the 90 second experience at all, yelling, "all done! all done!" the whole time. Rory said he was ready to pass her off, and I was ready with a big towel. As soon as I had her in the towel she raised her hands and repeated with quiet crying relief, "Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah," glad that was over.

**
And this one actually happened a few weeks ago, and I wrote it down immediately after it happened when Rory brought me a pen and my journal. I had just told him and he said, "please get that on paper." So here it is, straight from my journal.

Elsie came into the bathroom after they had been tucked in while I was in the bath. She stood on the step stool and looked at herself in the mirror and told me with great animation and exaggerated expressions, "Mom, for my 20 birthday I want to get my ears pierced because it will hurt like a shot but then I'll have sparkle jewels and then my hair will be to my knees like Laura Ingalls and I can take you shopping so you have something beautiful. And I'll wear one of your necklaces, probably not your white circle one (pearls) because that was your grandma's and very special to you, but probably this circle one with the sparkles because you'll probably have a new one. And I'll wear my bracelet from church and I'll be so beautiful because I'll be all jeweleried! And mom! We will paint our toenails because the polish will probably be off! So when I am (said quietly to herself 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20) nineteen we can paint our nails so that when I am 20 they are dry! And I would like you to paint your fingers because that is prettier. An you should cut your hair a little bit so it grows faster and longer down to your knees like Laura!"

**
Elsie said, "Mom, when it is my birthday no one can cry or be mean or be sassy. Because that is my special day. They can only cry if they get really hurt, like bleeding and need a band aid."

**
Elsie has a little wall art that says, "sisters make the best friends." She looked at it and said, "mom, look for a little sign on your computer to hang on my wall that says, "Brothers and Sisters make the jolliest of friends."